Snippets
by Hollandi
Summary: Drabbles written for the FE 100 Themes Challenge. Up now: Big Brother and Little Sister. Tana is tired of Innes trying to push her home.
1. Heartbeat

Author's Note: My second fic. This is for the FE 100 themes on LJ. This is 89, 'Heartbeat'. My friend Rachel (Sombre Cryptique here) chose this theme for me, so it's dedicated to her. If anyone finds any mistakes, please tell me.

Disclaimer: Nintendo and Intelligent Systems own Fire Emblem, not me.

This is **FE9**.

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Terrible bloodshed, unnecessary loss of life. It just wouldn't stop. But why? Why couldn't the fighting end? Why must their be more deaths?

That was right. Daein would not stop. Daein insisted on the fights, the death, the war. Daein demanded Elincia; but of course, a princess could not just be handed over to another country, especially when that country was destroying her homeland, turning it to ruin.

Both sides had suffered losses; lives had been lost, tears had been shed. But the fighting had to continue, lest Crimea forever be enslaved by Daein, and the rest of Tellius left to wonder if Daein would do the same to them.

The battles were only getting bloodier; the casualties were only growing. And now that the battles were being fought on Daein, they found themselves more vulnerable; they did not know firsthand what Daein was like, what they would deal with there. But they had to continue on.

It had not been an easy battle. The going had been slow; the ground was soft and wet, and difficult to walk on. The enemies were anything but weak; snipers, paladins, and Daein's specialty, wyvern riders, all had been present.

By the end of the battle, bodies littered the ground, all bearing Daein's black armor. It was impossible to tell if it was water that soaked the ground, or blood; both? But Crimea's fighters were not without injury, either; Rhys and Mist had tasked themselves with healing injuries.

As Mist finished healing Boyd, Elincia came running from off of the battleground.

"Mist! Have you seen Lord Ike?"

With those words, Mist realized she had not seen her brother since the beginning of the battle. She hastily shook her head in response to Elincia's question, she picked herself up, dashing off in search of him.

"I haven't seen Boss since earlier in the fight. Wonder where he is?" Mist heard Boyd mutter from behind her. It did nothing to calm her nerves; if none of them had seen him, then what had happened to him? Was he okay? What if... what if he was hurt? Or worse, dead?!

No, she couldn't think such things; it wasn't helping, and she had to concentrate on finding Ike.

"Brother?! BROTHER! Where are you?!" She was unable to stay calm through her fear and worry, and screamed it; loud enough for all the army to hear.

There was no reply. Her legs kept moving, faster, faster. Mud pulled at her feet, her legs burned, but she stopped for nothing. Aqua eyes searched the ground, but there was no blue, no blue. Just black, black, black! Where was he? Where was her brother?

Up, up, up, Mist ran, up the hill; running until the only thing blocking her way was the bulk of a dead wyvern, its redheaded rider slung over its back. Lying in front of the dead pair was a man with short blue hair: Ike.

"BROTHER! Brother, are you okay?! Brother, talk to me!" Mist kneeled next to him, eyes wide and body quivering. She could feel her heart beating with her whole body, but what about him? Was his heart still beating at all?

She lowered a shaking hand to him, touching two fingers to his neck, right below his jaw, digging them into his skin. Nothing.

Where was it? Where? Why wasn't it there? Mist only continue to dig her fingers harder into his neck, as if that would cause a pulse to appear.

And then she felt it. Faint, barely there. But it was still a beat.

"Mist? That hurts." Blue eyes looked up at her. Another beat, thumping stronger than before. Then another. Mist threw her arms around Ike's neck.

"Brother! You're okay!"

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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!


	2. Land of Winter Chill

Author's Note: Third fic. This one's dedicated to my mom, who chose theme 25, Land of Winter Chill, for me. If you find any mistakes, please tell me!

Disclaimer: Nintendo and Intelligent Systems own Fire Emblem, not me.

This is **FE9**.

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It had been nearly a year now since they had first left; they'd gone from Crimea, to Gallia, back to Crimea, to Begnion, and now finally, they were in Daein.

Most of the soldiers weren't used to Daein's harsh terrain and unfavorable weather; they turned their nose up at it, all while wishing that they were in a place where the nature was forgiving. Since the group had arrived in Daein, it had just been complaint after complaint, but they all knew they had to press forward, even though they whined.

As winter dragged on, it was only getting colder, and Sothe loved it. The sky was grey, the ground was rocky and barren, and the air freezing. But it was Daein. Home.

Daein had a certain beauty to it, one that truly only one of her citizens could see. There was something about the snow that fell to the ground, something about the towering peaks of her mountains that was just awe inspiring; a raw, rugged beauty.

So maybe his country had started a war with another, conquering it in the worst of ways. Perhaps the land there was unforgiving; so what if it was a difficult place to live? In Daein, everyone had a chance; those born as the lowliest could die as some of the highest. Blood was not a concern; if you could fight, you had a place.

The war was hurting Daein, too, especially now that the battles were being fought on her soil; the country was without a king, no one to govern and protect the citizen. So many of Daein's people were being lost in the battles, and villages were left in ruins.

Sometimes Sothe felt a little like he was betraying his country. But when he thought about it, he realized he wasn't; he was simply helping to free his home from a tyrant's rule. Then maybe his cold, beautiful land could flourish once more.

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Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!


	3. Big Brother and Little Sister

Author's Note: I wrote this more than a week ago, but I really didn't feel like posting it up until now. This is Theme 17, Big Brother and Little Sister. Please, read and review, and point out any mistakes you find. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Nintendo and Intelligent Systems own Fire Emblem, I don't.

This is **FE8**.

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Ever since they had been little, it had always been "Tana, you can't" or "don't Tana, you'll get hurt!". It had been years of listening to her brother, never able to do anything on her own, or without his permission. Of course, he could do what he wanted; he could run off and fight battles with assistance from only two people, but she had to stay back at the palace, away from harm and danger.

But she wasn't weak! She was anything but it; for years now she'd trained with Vanessa and Syrene, but Innes continue to upkeep his opinion that Tana could not fight on her own, that she had to protected and cared for.

What was it that he could do that Tana couldn't? She was strong too; just because she was a girl, just because she was his little sister, that didn't make her weak. Was that it?

When Innes had found out that Tana was also fighting, he had become angry; he'd lectured her for at least an hour (or so it had seemed), and had tried to force her to return home. She could still remember his rage, the way he'd yelled at her, "the fighting is too dangerous for you Tana! Go home!". And the way she had yelled back, too, "I can take care of myself! I'm not a child!" After she had said those words, Innes had given up, and she simply walked away.

Even as Tana participated in increasingly difficult fights, even as she performed spectacularly, Innes stood by his opinion that she was unable to fight. After most fights, he would still come talk to her, trying to convince her again that she should go home. It was always the same thing; either "war isn't for you, Tana", or "you'll get hurt if you keep fighting, go home". But Tana continued to stand her ground, and continued to fight.

In his attempt to bring Tana home, Innes soon found himself talking to Vanessa; perhaps she could talk some to sense into his sister.

But when he approached her with his opinion that Tana should return home, Vanessa simply said,

"Prince Innes, Princess Tana is a fine fighter; she is strong, and wants to help protect Magvel, just as you do."

After hearing that comment, Innes stopped pestering Tana for a while.

During one fight, Tana was injured badly. A sniper had fired a shot at her, and she was unable to dodge it, leaving her with a critical wound. After Tana had seen Moulder for healing, Innes had been the first person to visit her.

"See, Tana? I told you that you would get hurt, and here you are! I'm not joking around, this is too dangerous." He was angry, again; but he was worried, too, so very worried.

"Brother... Innes... I want to help. I don't want to watch from the sidelines while Eirika fights, while Ephraim fights, while YOU fight. Is that so much? Please, don't worry over me any longer."

Innes was silent as he stared at Tana, but she understood.

"Thank you, Brother."

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Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Please review!


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